Over the years, I have collected and refined a set of fine art images that I liked as background images for my computer display. I like to have a random one selected when I log in. But now I’ve upgraded from a 4x3 monitor to a 16x9 one, and I do not like padded images. I don’t want to plop a 4x3 image down and pad the sides. Most of the ones I’ve been using cannot be stretched to fill the expanded horizontal space without obvious distortion. So I need a new set of backgrounds.
Most of the ones I formerly used are impressionist, but not all. To give a sampling, I’ve images from Bracquemond, Degas, Louis’s “Point of Tranquility” is a favorite (and one that actually does not suffer overmuch from stretching,) Monet, Seurat, Van Gogh, Cortes, and so on.
So, those of you who have customized background images, what are your favorites?
There are lots of websites that are dedicated to desktop wallpaper of all scales (here’s a Fine Art one for you), and occasionally I make my own from 4x3 images by adding blank space until it fits the right dimensions.
I tend towards fantasy art myself, which there is plenty of at places like deviantART
The resolutions available on the site you link are all 4:3. In fact, without padding (which the OP doesn’t want), cropping, or stretching, it’s impossible for the same image to have multiple aspect ratios. And since fine art is about reproducing the image exactly, this a problem for the OP.
As so little art seems to be made at that aspect ratio, I’d say the OP’s best bet is either cropping–particularly of works that have a lot empty space above and/or below–or a collage setup.
1680x1050 isn’t 4:3. Admittedly it’s not 16:9 either but it’s close, 16:10 is a standard monitor resolution. 16:10 will fit into a 16:9 monitor with a little bit of top/bottom cropped, which Firefox, at least, does automatically.
